“I’ve talked to coach (John) Beilein, he’s looking forward to seeing him,” Battle’s father, Gary, told the website. “He’s seen him play a couple times. They like his versatility and his ability to play multiple guard spots, handle the ball, defend it.”

Ranked as Rivals.com’s No. 11 player in the 2016 class, Battle is a 6-foot-5, 180-pound guard who is being pursued by programs all across the country and has scholarship offers from many.

Michigan doesn’t offer players until June 15 after their sophomore year, a policy Beilein adopted when it was the NABC recommendation years ago. He maintains that guideline to see the academic standing of the player after two high school years.

But the U-M staff’s interest in Battle is well known, having seen him in many places, including near his New Jersey home where he attends Gill St. Bernard’s School.

Rivals.com lists U-M assistant Jeff Meyer as his primary recruiter, and Meyer saw Battle work out in mid-April just after the Final Four.

It will be stiff competition for Battle with Duke in the mix and also expecting a visit. A selling point for the Wolverines is that they play more frequently in the New York area with Rutgers now in the Big Ten and have committed to yearly trips to New York for a tournament or a single game.

■ NOTEBOOK: The Michigan Softball Academy, held Thursday in Ann Arbor, raised more than $118,000 for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer organization. The event, in its fifth year, had 250 participants and the honorary chair was Beilein’s wife, Kathleen. U-M was slated to wear pink uniforms in Friday’s first game against Wisconsin to honor the event. ... U-M alum Rich Eisen of the NFL Network was the scheduled speaker for a Friday night event for the expected 120 graduating Michigan athletes. The commencement ceremony is today at Michigan Stadium.